Tuesday, 15 December 2015

GUN TRUCK

By Miguel Miranda

The former Soviet
Union built the most dangerous APC’s in the world. Whether wheeled
or tracked these machines always packed a punch and had incredible speed. By
comparison, until the advent of the IFV, NATO’s only successful response to the
Soviet’s superb APC development was the American M113—a remarkable, albeit
utilitarian, vehicle in its own right.

To think the whole concept of the personnel
carrier, armed and armored for combat, didn’t catch on for some years after
World War Two and it was still the Soviets who led the way with an impressive
range of vehicles. Including a very peculiar truck.

The BTR-152 was one of the first
Soviet vehicles to proliferate across the Middle East and Africa.
Pictured are BTR-152B’s armed with quad-mounted DShK’s and a lone Goryunov. Because
Arab armies sucked at waging war the Israelis ended up collecting a sizable fleet of
their own BTRs...

As a matter of fact, the Soviets
inadvertently arrived at the concept in 1950 after using their 6x6 ZiS-151
truck as the basis for an armored troop transporter whose exterior vaguely
resembled a US Army half track.

This hybrid vehicle was designed by a team
of engineers led by B.M. Fitterman and staffed by K.M. Androsov, V.F. Rodionov,
A.P. Petrenko, P.P. Tchernayev, and N.I. Orlov.

...which they gladly turned on their former masters. See this IDF BTR-152 mounted with a French Hispano Suiza .404 20mm anti-aircraft gun. Fun fact: France was actually Israel’s biggest arms dealer in the 1960s.

The final result was the Bronetransporter-152 or BTR-152. It was
ugly, to be honest. But it promised to shield a dozen infantrymen from harm and
mount the kind of heavy weapons that would make NATO troopers’ toes curl. (It
wasn’t actually the first BTR, a distinction reserved for the 4x4 BTR-40.)

The BTR-152 was hardly a far cry from its
ancestors, trucks and half-tracks alike, and even performed like these
vehicles. It ran on a 110 horsepower ZiS-123 gasoline engine and managed a top
speed of 68 kilometers per hour. Unlike the 8x8 BTR’s that succeeded it, the
152 wasn’t amphibious and could only manage fording across 30 inches of water.

From 1950 until 1962 the BTR-152 enjoyed
levels of unprecedented success as the primary heavy troop transport and
workhorse for Red Army and Warsaw Pact forces. Manufactured in untold thousands
(exact production figures are conflicting, but are in the five digit range) and
exported to dozens of countries, the BTR-152 was the truck that could fight
back and do a lot of other things besides.

This despite the fact that its welded steel
armor wasn’t really as tough as it appeared—more on this later.

China
allegedly built its own copies of the BTR-152 but a lack of photographic
evidence puts this claim in doubt.

What is beyond question, however, is the
BTR-152 was an inelegant marvel that was tough, reliable, and provided a
fighting chance for every poor man’s army in a dozen forgotten wars.

It’s still being driven around today, for
eff’s sake.

THE
PERSONNEL CARRIER

The BTR-152 was a project of the Zavod Imeni Stalina plant or ZiS in Moscow and irony of
ironies before World War Two its truck production line was modernized by an
American firm.

This meant that American DNA permeated the
modern lineage of Soviet truck manufacturing. Undeniable proof of another
bizarre twist in the Cold War’s technological showdown. It deserves mention
that substantial quantities of US Army M2 half tracks were transported to the USSR
as Lend Lease.

Initial production was carried out at the
ZiS’ Automotive Factory No.2 from 1950 until 1956. It was then shifted to the
Zavod imeni Likhacheva or ZiL until production ceased in 1962.

The M2 half track was a genuine multirole platform that could be equipped for various tasks. That front grille looks familiar though. Hmmm...

The influences that shaped the BTR-152 gave
it its best asset: spaciousness. Compared to all the other Soviet APCs that
followed the BTR-152 never lacked for space in its passenger compartment. On
paper the Soviets figured out 15 troopers could fit at the back plus a driver
and co-driver in the cab. Fifteen!

This is what an empty BTR-152B looks like. Troops enter from a rear swing door and parallel rows of seats can fit seven each. The 15th trooper mans the missing Goryunov machine gun. But ideally there should be a machine gun up front.

For a wheeled APC driving the BTR-152
wasn’t a chore. That is, so long as no hostile fire was directed at it.

Its design patterned after the M2 half
track, the BTR-152’s windshield was separated into two panels. When buttoned up
the driver just had to lower the hatches and reduce his vision to those classic
Soviet viewing slits. (That’s a fuel tank behind the driver’s seat, by the
way.)

The side doors were just as interesting.
The upper panels could be lowered for better visibility and/or ventilation.

Check out the vacant driver’s seat

From a different angle in a better preserved vehicle.

In case you ever need to drive a BTR-152
here’s a handy guide to what’s what.

Throttle pedal carburetor

Brake pedal

Clutch pedal

Control panel

Signal button

Tire air control

Gear lever transfer

Air vents and windscreens

Wiper

Front axle lever

Handbrake lever

???

???

???

Tire valve block

Gearbox shift

Heater

Lever for radiator shutters

And if you want to ace a quiz on the parts
of a BTR-152K—a later variant with an armored roof—this might come in handy.

Ax

Compartment for RPG launcher

Headset bag

Container for RPG rockets

Compartment for driver/co-driver personal effects

Compartment for spare radio parts

Gun rack

Compartment for spare parts

Compartment for ammunition

Starting lamp

Oil tank

Compartment for spare parts

Block winch

Spare tire

Ammunition box

Shovel

Canvass bucket

Spare box

Mounting kit

Antenna

First aid kit

Tool kit

Compartment for spare parts

Saw

Extinguisher

“Document bag”

Jack

Starting handle

Tow rope

Indeed, the BTR-152 had a lot of neat
features that are a bit scarce in modern APCs.

The vehicle’s exterior was furnished with a
complete set of entrenching tools. These included a shovel at the back and
opposite it was a crowbar, a two-handed saw clipped to the vehicle’s side, an
ax attached behind the frontal left tire, and a pick axe attached behind the
frontal right tire.

Sometimes a lug wrench was affixed beneath
the driver’s door.

Don’t forget the spare tire attached to the
rear swing door!

You’d think these tools were enough for
dismounted infantry to build a log cabin. But such implements were needed to
ready a prepared position if the situation arose.

Also notice the tarpaulin spread over the
BTR-152. This was a common half-measure to protect the BTR’s interior from snow
and rain. The arrival of the BTR-152K with three roof hatches rectified this
glaring fault.

Unlike the emerging generation of NATO
APCs, the BTR-152 was designed to allow its passengers to fight from within the
vehicle. Hence the three circular firing ports on either side of the hull and
two additional firing ports next to the rear swing door.

This meant infantry could fight at
360-degrees within the BTR-152.

The BTR-152’s armored grilles could be
opened and closed at the push of a dashboard button. This was to protect the
radiator from gunfire. Some analysts claim this safety feature made the BTR-52
prone to overheating.

But take note of the BTR-152’s headlights
in the photo above. The original BTR-152 only had a single pair and so did
succeeding variants. However, by the time the BTR-152V1 rolled out an
additional pair of infrared lights were installed along with improvements to
the chassis and transmission. See below.

The bulge on the bumper, by the way, was
the housing for the mechanical winch. The original BTR-152 and BTR-152A only
had flat bumpers with a length of wire rope (for towing) wrapped around it. The
winch first appeared on the BTR-152B and succeeding variants and was encased in
a special container with a round flip top.

The BTR-152 also had a few worrisome quirks
like…

Every time the Soviets built an APC their
engineers would place the fuel tank in the most awkward position imaginable.
This applied to the BTR-152, where separate fuel tanks were located behind the
driver and co-driver’s seats. The photo above captures the tank behind the
co-driver.

The BTR-152’s fuel tanks were identifiable
from the outside via the round caps behind the driver and co-driver’s doors.

It might have been the vulnerability posed
by these tanks that explains the large number of BTR-152’s abandoned in combat.
This phenomenon was quite common during the Six Day War when captured or
salvaged BTR-152’s resulted in the IDF having to maintain a whole fleet of
these APCs.

Maybe the driver and crew, being aware of
the BTR-152’s thin armor and the proximity of the fuel tanks, always found it
sensible to vacate the vehicle one it was crippled.

Since it was based on a proven truck
chassis, the BTR-152 was adaptable for multiple roles. It could also tow stuff,
like artillery or a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun.

There were reportedly several BTR-152
variants. But thanks to the wonders of online research it has come to light
that not only were there more different types of BTR-152’s—the Soviets
classified them alphabetically! This makes it easier to identify them.

For the record, the ZiS and ZiL factories
recognized 14 BTR-152 variants. Their combined production numbers reached 12,
421 units while the highest estimate for BTR-152’s built is a rounded figure of
15,000.

Here’s the breakdown.

BTR-152 – Original open top production
variant armed with a Goryunov machine gun. (See above.)

BTR-152A – The first genuine an
anti-aircraft variant although the type of gun used wasn’t specified.

BTR-152B/1 – A mechanical winch drum was
installed on the bumper beneath the grille.

BTR-152C – A so-called “communication
variant” with a large radio antennae near the windshield.

BTR-152D – A BTR-152V mounting a 14.5mm
ZPU-2

BTR-152E – A BTR-152V1 with a ZPU-2.

BTR-152V1 – Infrared headlights installed
for driver visibility along with crew compartment heater and a blower for
windshield.

BTR-152V – The heavily upgraded variant
produced by ZiL from 1956 onward. Had equidistant tires and axels, increased
performance, and an enclosed passenger compartment.

BTR-152K – An armored roof with three
hatches installed on a BTR-152V.

BTR-152B ZU-23-2 – A technical used by Arab
militias in the Levant armed with twin 23mm
anti-aircraft guns.

This is the BTR-152K converted into an
ambulance.

Arab forces were among the
BTR-152’s most prolific users. This modified BTR-152 captured by the IDF was
converted into a tow truck/recovery vehicle by a Lebanese militia.

Here’s the rare and completely weird
BTR-152S, a command vehicle. It looks like a house built on a truck.

WEAPONRY

This profile dubs the BTR-152 a “Gun
Truck.” The term itself conjures visions of a mean-looking rig with bulging
tires and serious firepower on its bed.

This is precisely where the BTR-152
excelled. The Soviets knew it and produced a dazzling selection of variants
that carried almost all their large caliber machine guns in the 1950s. Ditto
every other army that found a use for the BTR-152, be they Palestinian freedom
fighters, the Vietnamese, the Israelis, and many others.

Although to call the BTR-152 “modular”
won’t cut it, different types of weapons were fitted into its spacious
passenger compartment. This converted the BTR-152 into a fighting vehicle that
could participate in mechanized combat (the 1967 Six-Day War) or vicious street
battles in the streets of Budapest or Beirut.

According to open sources the BTR-152’s
first public outing was a Red Square military
parade on November 7, 1951.

The photo above could be the very first one of the BTR-152 in its original open top configuration. It was a moderately spacious
vehicle - those are five motorized infantrymen seated in three rows, totaling 15
diehard Commies - and was armed with a single machine gun.

Meanwhile, in East Germany, the BTR-152 sat nine Germans and their machine gunner. That’s 10 people and still a lot more than the mech infantry squads crammed into APCs today.

The original BTR-152’s sole armament was
the dependable 7.62x54mm Goryunov SG-43 mounted behind the enclosed cab.
Although a leftover from World War Two, it still uses a powerful round and has an awesome
rate of fire (500 rounds per minute), you couldn't really tell from the business end.

The Goryunov in action. Fun fact: The Chinese PLA actually converted it into a squad automatic weapon called the Type 67 by adding a pistol grip and a fixed wooden butt stock.

It didn’t take long before the BTR-152’s
role shifted from an APC to a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. As previously
mentioned, the first iteration of this variant was the BTR-152A, whose main
armament was the 14.5mm ZTPU-2/ZPU-2. Basically a pair of the notorious KPV
anti-tank machine guns that would become the BTR-series’ perpetual main
armament.

The 14.5x114mm KPV is no laughing matter.
It’s still the world’s most powerful machine gun that can penetrate the armor
of most APCs and military vehicles in use today. The KPV’s 1,000 meter range
made it just as lethal against low-flying aircraft.

Other sources suggest the BTR-152A also had
quad mounted 12.7x108mm DShK’s behind the Goryunov. Another variant, the
BTR-152D, was allegedly the one that mounted the ZPU-2’s. When Russian sources
are consulted this was revealed to be the BTR-152E. Confusing? Blame the
conflicting uncorrected “facts” of neglected open sources.

Judging by the image above it appears the
BTR-152A/D/E was developed into a complete system. Take note of the P-12 mobile
radar array in the background. Did it serve to relay targeting information to
the BTR-152? Or was the BTR deployed as a mobile escort to protect the P-12? What are those levers stuck on the wheels?
(This was the external tire deflation system.)

The configuration of the BTR-152A/D/E is
also interesting. The ZPU-2 is fixed behind the cab and seats a gunner. The
remaining space at the rear of the vehicle is for the spotter…who stands gazing
at the sky with his binoculars.

Here’s
another grainy picture of the
BTR-152 A/D from behind. It appears the ZPU-2 was installed on a
retrofitted ring mount whose exact designation has been lost to history.

It appears eight (yes, EIGHT) people can fit in a BTR-152 even with a 14.5mm ZPU-2 installed. Wow!

The photo above is of a BTR-152A/D in Hungary.
Come to think of it, the superb elevation of the ZPU-2 made it quite useful in
suppressing hostiles taking pot shots from windows during urban combat. But a
well-aimed Molotov cocktail can still completely crisp the BTR-152’s exposed
interior.

The Soviets later developed an
anti-aircraft BTR-152 that could mount a ZPU-4 in a different setup. Given how
the armor of the BTR-152 enclosed the entire vehicle, the ZPU was reconfigured
to have two KPV’s above the cab and two KPV’s behind them whose elevation could
be raised. Peculiar but sensible. The same from another angle:

Since the BTR-152 was a vehicle of the
1950s whose production ceased soon after the Soviets never developed the
platform to remain in step with advancing technology. It turns out it was the
client states and customers left with stocks of the BTR-152 who kept installing
larger and larger weapons.

It was the storm and stress of the
Palestinian struggle against Israel
that brought the BTR-152 to its lethal apogee. During the 1970s the PLO were
able to mount a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun on a BTR-152. The result was
impressive in light of all the crappy Hilux technicals roving Third
World war zones today.

Keep in mind the original BTR-152 weighed a
little over 8 tons. The ZU-23-2 added about 950 kilograms. Throw in a driver,
gunner, and loader and the BTR-152 is somewhat encumbered and rather top heavy. Ergo this
modification hampered the vehicle’s mobility.

A BTR-152mounted with a ZU-23 in action. Notice the helmets of the soldiers—they’re Israelis!

The Israelis began seizing abandoned
BTR-152’s as early as the 1956 Sinai War. No doubt aware of the vehicle’s
potential (look at all that room at the back!) they soon figured out a 20mm
Hispano Suiza .404 anti-aircraft gun could fit inside it. Israel’s first genuine SPAAG was
born and served with distinction during the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War.

This rare low-quality and date
unknown photo reveals a bizarre mating of a US-made M61 Vulcan anti-aircraft
gun with a BTR-152. Was it effective?

The BTR-152’s peak was still a time where
anti-tank or anti-aircraft missiles and automatic grenade launchers were absent
from the battlefield. It would have been interesting to witness the additional
variants developed if it stayed in production.

Egypt
actually took the initiative in this regard. If imitation is the sincerest form
of flattery the BTR-152’s welded steel body was copied and mounted on a German
4x4 truck chassis and engine.

Spot the differences!

The vehicle was designated Walid and it
begat several variants, including a short-lived 122mm multi-rocket launcher
that saw extensive use in the Yom Kippur War. Several hundred Walid’s were
manufactured and select numbers were sold to Iraq
and Sudan
as well as a few other African countries. The Egyptian Army still maintains a
small fleet of its Walid APCs today.

PROTECTION

An armored vehicle’s absolute survival in
brutal combat is never a sure thing.

When facing modern anti-tank weapons, RPGs,
and autocannons, the long and short of it is the BTR-152’s “armor” is exactly
that. Armor in quotation marks. Almost as if there weren’t any to speak of.

Consider that the BTR-152 was
conceptualized in the fires of the Great Patriotic War, prototyped in the late
1940s, and built in the 1950s. This meant it was an extremely simple design, even
crude, and the fineries that are taken for granted in today’s personnel
carriers were non-existent.

Based on available open source
specifications of the BTR-152’s armor, the protection levels were distributed
in a familiar pattern. The cab and engine compartment were best protected,
followed by the sides, and then almost nothing at the bottom.

The annotated photo above of a BTR-152K
reveals its frontal armor around the cab was an impressive 15mm. This made it
impervious to sustained small arms fire.

The sides and rear were enclosed in welded
steel with a thickness of 9mm. A bit dicey, as NATO 7.62x51mm rounds, rifle grenades, and rockets
like the M72 LAW could’ve blown right through it.

The armor on the steel roof was little
better at 10mm. At least this could preserve any passengers from fragments and
flying shrapnel. A direct hit from rooftop RPG-7 would have turned the BTR-152K
into a fiery coffin.

The bottom, with its 300mm ground clearance,
had just 4mm.

Examining available photos of wrecked BTR-152’s
does reveal an interesting pattern. Few of these photos reveal any penetration
from small arms. It appears that shaped charges and explosions were the biggest
risks for BTR-152 crews.

Did somebody mention land mines?

The above wonderfully illustrates the
BTR-152’s strengths and weaknesses. Knocked out by a land mine and ambushed by
Rhodesian/South African troops (those skimpy khaki shorts are a dead giveaway),
the passenger compartment is charred black and smoking. The tires have melted
and the escaping crew were probably gunned down as they burned alive.

But the cab is 100% intact. Now imagine if
a BTR-152 bore the brunt of an IED, i.e. a booby-trapped 155mm shell. If fragments tore through the bottom and hit
the gas tanks situated behind the driver’s seat the resulting inferno would
incinerate everything inside.

Like this unfortunate BTR-152 armed with a
single 14.5mm KPV. Notice how the armor is intact but the insides are charred.

Another glaring weakness of the BTR-152 was
its open top. Until the BTR-152K arrived in limited numbers, the open top was a
juicy target for all kinds of mischief. See this, circa Hungarian revolt:

Take note of the different set of
tires it uses—these are indicative of the ZiS-151.

Throughout history people have
been mesmerized by wreckage of any sort. Anyway, the warped side armor and the
gaping hole suggest a shaped charge knocked out this BTR-152 and sent it
careening into a wall where it burned to oblivion.

Though relatively intact, the mangled BTR-152 above suggests its fuel tank was detonated. It set fire to the engine
and blew the separate panels that serve as a hood and the burning fuel pooling up underneath the truck then melted the tires.
The remarkable part is the rest of the vehicle is intact.

MOBILITY

The BTR-152 originally ran on the 110 hp
six cylinder ZiS-123 gasoline engine. This gave it a modest top speed of 65
km/h and a 650 km range.

From 1956 onwards it ran on the 107 hp six
cylinder ZiL-137K in-line gasoline engine.

For lack of a credible photograph
let this suffice as a glimpse into a BTR-152V’s engine. Note the radio antennae
and the windshield wiper underneath the polycarbonate windscreen. Also note the thickness of the armour plating sheltering the engine and its associated supporting elements.

It’s easy to dismiss the BTR-152 as a
primeval wheeled APC with questionable mobility on rough terrain. Like many
Soviet war machines the BTR-152 was also accused of being unreliable. Hindsight proves the first criticism
irrelevant and since no vehicle can run perfectly in all conditions it’s worth
mentioning the BTR-152 managed to honorably soldier on like a Cossack's horse in the snow, in the
tundra, in the desert, and in the tropics during its 65-year career.

The second barb - unreliability - is a
perplexing one given how long the BTR-152 remained in distinguished service for more than half a century, starting in 1951
with the Soviet Red Army until the present with various militaries. Furthermore
the Vietnamese army remains the BTR-152’s most eager user. They most certainly know it’s an
old vehicle and modern alternatives can be imported from their suppliers, i.e. Russia, Israel,
China, and South Korea,
yet they’ve managed to keep it running and even upgraded it with a diesel
engine as recently as 2012.

The model above is a Vietnamese BTR-152B—notice the
mechanical winch beneath the grille as well as the addition of wing mirrors.

The BTR-152B above was photographed in Afghanistan
where it functioned well despite freezing weather, thin air, abysmal roads, and
the persistent threat of land mines. Count the soldiers in the photo and this
reveals the BTR-152B also carried its full complement of 17. History sure
rhymes because NATO forces would later take their own armored trucks, the
heavier 15-ton MRAPs, and see these get bogged down in the Afghan highlands.

But the BTR-152 did have its shortcomings
that manifested as early as 1953 and its designers spent years grappling with
these. For a Soviet APC weighing between 8 to 10 tons (depending on the
variant) it had low permeability when running through snow or sand.

The tires were also completely exposed,
thereby risking getting punctured by multiple gunshots. This compelled the
installation of a central tire inflation system. To further improve its
mobility in the snow a separate externally mounted tire deflation system was
devised.

The BTR-152 above is running in snow with
each of its ZiS tires wrapped in snow chains.

To improve its mobility in the
snow engineers installed a tire deflation system on the BTR-152. This is a rare
upgrade and isn’t seen on Middle Eastern or Asian BTR-152’s.

But the BTR-152 did have a single glaring
weakness that its Soviet designers never completely overcame. Its 6x6 chassis
and the suspension and transmission that supported it wasn’t very capable running
over obstacles.

The BTR-152’s wheels, two at the front and
four at the back, used torsion bar suspension. But only the front had hydraulic
shock absorbers mated with leaf springs. The four wheels at the back had leaf
spring suspension too and no shock absorbers until 1957, a year after
production was moved to the ZiL factory.

In the mid-1950s a test involving the
upgraded ZiL BTR-152V and two earlier ZiS BTR-152B’s exposed this glaring
weakness. The BTR-152V successfully crossed a 2.5 meter wide trench that was
1.5 meters deep. Its rivals, BTR-152B’s, struggled to accomplish the same.

A BTR-152V caught in a moment of weakness. If you can’t exactly stop it with bullets a wide enough ditch can ruin its day.

The original BTR-152’s turning radius of 12
to 14 meters was another problem for an APC that had to run on city
streets—imagine how it manages tight corners and alleys—and the best efforts by
ZiL engineers were able to reduce this by half.

When BTR-152 production ceased in 1962 the
consensus on the 6x6 chassis was clear. Its suspension system was inadequate
for the rigors of cross-country movement against obstacles and even less
effective when amphibious crossings are required.

This led to the remaining BTR-152’s
“retirement” to rear echelon motor pools and security units once the BTR-60’s
long reign commenced.

CURRENT
STATUS

For a vehicle with questionable protection
levels and mobility issues the BTR-152 proved an indomitable war machine. Based
on archival footage and photographs it had a sterling combat record in the Middle East where it fought in almost every Arab-Israeli
war from 1956 until the 1980s.

The BTR-152 had a very prominent role in
the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) where it functioned as a poor man’s fighting
vehicle for the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and other factions. The
Rhodesian Bush War (1964-1979) was another theater where it saw extensive use
by Soviet-backed forces.

At the same time the Soviets deployed the
BTR-152 and its brethren in Afghanistan—a
country littered with the charred hulks of wrecked BTR-series APCs.

Check out these Pashtun mujahideen posing in front of a wrecked
BTR-152. Capturing the quad-DshK should have been quite a windfall.

The civil wars in Somalia and Yemen during the 1990s also revived
it. In a strange twist the BTR-152 has resurfaced in the ongoing Syrian Civil
War (2011-?). The irony is quite painful because the present conflict involves
so many anti-tank weapons ranged against the aging second-generation Soviet-era
armor deployed by the Syrian Arab Army.

The image above portrays the BTR-152 in its
glory. Sure it can take abuse but don’t expect it to withstand direct hits
from shaped projectiles and calibers above 14.5mm. Notice the gaping hole
behind the driver’s seat? If it hit any lower it would’ve struck the fuel tank
and kaboom!

This is the state of most
BTR-152’s today. It appears old fighting vehicles never die. They just collect
rust and turn ugly. Notice the T-10M next to the ISU-122 at the back?

Rare footage of an up-gunned
BTR-152K fitted with a 14.5mm turret mounted on a custom roof. Take note of the
viewing slits installed above the firing ports.

Except for grim war zones the BTR-152 is no
longer fielded by any national army even though its proliferation reached 40
countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Even when its production ceased in 1962, the BTR-152 was still deployed by the
Red Army and the Warsaw Pact until the fall of the Berlin Wall. Based on open
sources by 1993 BTR-152’s could still be found in the Russian Army’s motor
pool.

It survived the Cold War. Imagine that.

Yet its legacy lives on in the most
surprising way possible. In this day and age where roadside bombs loom large in
the minds of strategists and commanders armored trucks are once again in vogue.
There are a hundred different kinds of “tactical” and “mine-resistant” wheeled
vehicles peddled by at least a dozen countries today.

They’re easy to produce—India’s state-owned
factories had no trouble developing an indigenous MRAP based on a common truck
chassis—and can take on different roles, from battle taxis to command vehicles
to ambulances. Just like the BTR-152.

If one could imagine renewed production of
the BTR-152 with all of today’s bells and whistles the resulting platform could
be interesting. It won’t look pretty but it won’t be a pushover either. It’s
also perfectly suited to carrying big guns.

But fear not. Because the spirit of the
BTR-152 lives on…in the BPM-97*!

*You
can bet its armor is "inadequate" too since destroyed “separatist” BPM’s have
been spotted in Ukraine.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR

Miguel Miranda is a writer based in the Philippines.
He harbors a smoldering passion for Cold War militaria that contrasts his
shameful background as a recovering ex-journalist.

His other interests span writing for
magazines, massage therapy, heavy metal, collecting old paperback novels, and
admiring good industrial design.

Miguel is the founder of 21st
Century Asian Arms Race (21AAR),
a website about modern weapon systems and their impact on ongoing wars and
crises across Eurasia.

The website was founded because Miguel got the impression that China was buying and reverse-engineering far too many advanced weapons for everybody else's comfort. Now he realizes a handful of powerful countries have made perpetual war a matter of business-as-usual and this is why the 21st century is going to be really something else. So he writes about this phenomenon instead.

Some of 21AAR’s content also takes on a
historical and (gulp!) geopolitical perspective too, which means he’s got
variety down pat.

In his spare time Miguel likes to be
affectionate toward living things. He’s currently working on an erotic spy
thriller.